ABILENE – The Abilene Christian soccer team heads south to continue Southland Conference play at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when they take on the Islanders. Kickoff is slated for Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Dugan Stadium.
The Wildcats (5-7, 3-2 Southland) are coming off of a big 6-2 win over Northwestern State and look to continue the momentum going into Friday's contest. The Islanders (4-5-2,1-3-1 SLC) are coming off a 1-2 overtime loss to Nicholls.
Against the Islanders: Friday's meeting is the fifth matchup between the two teams and third in Corpus Christi. The Wildcats hold a 2-1-1 advantage over the Islanders. ACU and Corpus Christi first saw action on the pitch in 2013 at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch resulting in a 2-1 Wildcat victory.
Megan Baer and
Chelsea Reedy each scored one goal in last year's 4-0 dominant triumph over the Islanders. Senior
Chloe Fifer also recorded two assists to help seal the ACU victory. The Wildcats outshot the Islanders 21-11, 11-4 on goal and recorded six corner kicks.
Coach's Quote: "We expect Corpus Christi to be a well-coached and tough opponent on Friday night," head coach
Casey Wilson said. "Our plan is typically just really simple; execute the small things correctly, read the game, and compete. It will be a good game."
Follow Along: Fans follow along Friday's
live stat action or
live video as the Wildcats take on the Islanders.
Quick Kicks:
- Junior Dylan Owens scored the game winner against UTEP in overtime, giving ACU its first victory of the season
- Freshman Christina Arteaga leads the team with 10 points; four goals and two assists and is tied for 8th in Southland Conference.
- Freshman Erin Smith has recorded 37 saves in nine games
- Senior Megan Baer and sophomore Samantha Vestal lead the Wildcats with three assists each
- Sophomore Shay Johnson leads the team with 992 minutes this season
- The Wildcats six goals against Northwestern State on Sunday is the most against a conference opponent since 2015 when ACU beat Lamar 6-2.
- 26 Wildcats have seen action on the pitch this season
- ACU has 15 returners and 15 newcomers on the 2017 roster
- This is head coach Casey Wilson's 11th year with the team. He is the architect and only head coach in program history. He also is one of 23 NCAA DI women's soccer coaches still with the team that they founded.
